Melrose Man Pleads Guilty In Illegal Gambling Case

MELROSE, MA — A Melrose man plead guilty this week to charges stemming from an illegal gambling operation that prosecutors said he ran with family members in Melrose, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced on Friday.

Lonnie Hillson, 59, will serve one year in jail, according to the AG’s office.

The courts indicted Hillson in 2018 on charges including organizing and promoting gambling, registration of bets, use of the phone for gambling, conspiracy to register bets, and attempted extortion, the AG said.

Hillson was one of 11 individuals, including some family members, charged in connection with this investigation, the AG continued on Friday.

That indictment followed what the AG described as an “extensive investigation” by state agencies looking at possible illegal gambling and money laundering.

Law enforcement busted Hillson’s operation after executing search warrants on more than 15 residences, businesses and vehicles, according to the AG. Officials also searched close to a dozen bank accounts, the AG said.

Through their searches, officials found betting slips, gaming ledgers, paperwork related to illegal gaming, parlay cards and tens of thousands of dollars in cash, according to the AG.

Prosecutors said the Hillson family took illegal bets “exclusively over the phone.” Others assisted them, at one point, in trying to extort money from an undercover state trooper who was investigating this case, according to the AG.

“This defendant ran an illegal and predatory criminal enterprise that pushed bettors into debt,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in her office’s statement.

“We are grateful to our partners in law enforcement for their assistance in bringing this defendant to justice and shutting down this operation,” she continued.

Hillson was sentenced shortly after his guilty plea on Thursday, according to the AG’s office. In addition to his jail term, he will face three years of probation.